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Latest Cases & Developments
Date:
Doe v. The Trustees of Columbia University (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Feb. 27, 2026) (unpub.)
Opinion and Order Denying Petitioner’s Motion to Dismiss and Vacating University’s Sanctions. Plaintiffs, 22 students who attend Columbia University, challenged the sanctions imposed on them by the university following the April 2024 occupation of Hamilton Hall, alleging that the disciplinary determinations against them were arbitrary and capricious and in violation of New York law. The court denied the university’s motion to dismiss, finding that the university (1) improperly inferred guilt from mere presence at the occupation when it needed evidence of each student’s individual conduct; and (2) improperly relied on information contained in the students’ arrest records, which was placed under seal, and therefore, under New York Law, required to be treated as a legal nullity and could not be used to impose adverse consequences. The court found that because the arrest information was the only evidence placing the students inside Hamilton Hall, and the university was unable to produce any other proof of their individual conduct, the disciplinary findings were unsupported by admissible evidence. Accordingly, the court vacated the disciplinary sanctions and remanded the matter to the university, while clarifying that the university may initiate new disciplinary actions based on permissible evidence.
Topics:
Constitutional Issues | First Amendment & Free Speech | Student Conduct | Student Speech & Campus Unrest | StudentsDate:
O’Keefe v. Lehigh Univ. (3rd Cir. Jan. 12, 2024)
Opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of the University. Plaintiff, a former student at Lehigh University, brought assault and battery claims against two University police officers and contract claims against the University after he was arrested, breathalyzed, and expelled for public drunkenness. In affirming summary judgment in favor of the officers, the Third Circuit held that the breath test was reasonable, noting that witnesses observed plaintiff “stumbling around and falling after almost being hit by a car,” and that the level of force used to administer the test was not unreasonable given “an admittedly uncooperative subject.” In affirming summary judgment in favor of the University on his contract claim, the court held that (1) pointed questioning of a witness by an associate dean of students about whether plaintiff appeared drunk did not raise a question of fundamental unfairness; (2) lack of a separate credibility determination in the hearing panel’s evaluation of information presented by eyewitnesses did not raise an issue of fundamental fairness, particularly as University policy does not require a record of a specific credibility determination; and (3) the University did not impermissibly withhold exculpatory evidence when it did not produce for the hearing panel the initial incident report when its contents were presented in a summary provided to the panel nor when it did not produce body camera footage that was not in its possession.
Topics:
Campus Police, Safety, & Crisis Management | Student Conduct | StudentsDate:
R.W. v. Columbia Basin Coll. (E.D. Wash. Aug. 30, 2023)
Order denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law. Plaintiff, a former nursing student at Columbia Basin College (CBC) who had accommodations for epilepsy and back pain, was hospitalized for four days in 2017 after he reported graphic, intrusive homicidal ideation about three of his instructors. CBC found him responsible for violating its policy on Abusive Conduct, sanctioned him, and imposed parameters on his return, including monthly sessions with an independent mental health counselor and consent to permit a CBC conduct official to speak with the counselor. Plaintiff brought disability discrimination claims against CBC and multiple officials. After a jury found for defendants, plaintiff renewed his motion for judgment as a matter of law. In denying the motion, the court found evidence presented at trial from which the jury could have concluded that (1) plaintiff’s expressions of homicidal ideation resulted not from depression, but from frustration with low grades, and (2) he was not a qualified individual because his reported ideation was specific enough that his primary physician and a state-certified Designated Crisis Responder thought he might have begun active planning. The court further rejected his claim that the requirement of independent counseling was an impermissible surcharge, finding no evidence that CBC permitted other students with similar conduct violations to reenroll without incurring such an expense.
Topics:
Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Student Conduct | Students
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